Page:Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon.djvu/234

 And, to  go  farther  into  this  truth,  and  to  enter  into  a  detail which renders  it  more  evident  to  you,  you  complain,  in  the  first place, that  your  mind,  incapable  of  a  moment's  attention  in  prayer, wanders from  it,  and  flies  off  in  spite  of  yourself. But how  can  it be  otherwise;  or  how  can  you  find  it  attentive  and  collected,  if every  thing  you  do  takes  off  its  attention  and  unsettles  it;  if,  in the  detail  of  conduct,  you  never  recollect  yourself;  if  you  never  accustom yourself  to  that  mental  reflection,  to  that  life  of  faith,  which, even amid  the  dissipations  of  the  world,  find  ample  sources  of  holy reflection? To have  a  collected  mind  in  prayer,  you  must  bring  it along  with  you;  it  is  necessary  that  even  your  intercourse  with sinners, when  obliged  to  live  among  them,  the  sight  of  their  passions, of  their  anxieties,  fears,  hopes,  joys,  chagrins,  and  wretchedness, supply  your  faith  with  reflections,  and  turn  your  views  toward God  who  alone  bestows  collectedness  of  mind  and  the  tranquillity of  prayer. Then, even  on  quitting  the  world  and  those worldly conversations,  where  duty  alone  shall  have  engaged  your presence, you  will  find  no  difficulty  in  going  to  recollect  yourself before God,  and  in  forgetting  at  his  feet  those  vain  agitations  which you have  so  lately  witnessed. On the  contrary,  the  designs  of faith  which  you  shall  there  have  preserved  j  the  blindness  of  the worldly, which  you  shall  there  have  inwardly  deplored, — will  cause you to  find  new  comforts  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  Christ;  you  will  there, with consolation,  recreate  yourself  from  the  weariness  of  dissipation and of  worldly  nothings;  you  will  lament,  with  increased  satisfaction, over  the  folly  of  men  who  so  madly  pursue  after  a  vapour,  a a  chimerical  happiness,  which  eludes  their  grasp,  and  which  it  is impossible  ever  to  attain,  for  the  world  in  which  they  seek  it  cannot bestow it;  you  will  there  more  warmly  thank  the  Lord  for  having, with so  much  goodness,  and  notwithstanding  your  crimes,  enlightened and  separated  you  from  that  multitude  which  must  perish; you will  there  see,  as  in  a  new  light,  the  happiness  of  those  souls who serve  him,  and  whose  eyes,  being  opened  upon  vanity,  no longer  live  but  for  the  truth.

Secondly. You complain  that  your  heart,  insensible  in  prayer, feels nothing  fervent  for  its  God,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  disgust which renders  it  insupportable. But how  is  it  possible  that  your heart, wholly  engrossed  with  the  things  of  the  earth,  filled  with  iniquitous attachments,  inclination  for  the  world,  love  of  yourself, schemes for  exalting  your  station,  and  desires  perhaps  of  pleasing; how is  it  possible,  I  say,  that  your  heart,  compounded  with  so many  earthly  affections,  should  still  have  any  feeling  for  the  things of heaven? It is  wholly  filled  with  the  creatures;  where  then should God  find  his  place  in  it? We cannot  love  both  God  and the world. Thus, when  the  Israelites  had  passed  the  Jordan,  and had eaten  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  "  the  manna  ceased  on  the morrow  after  they  had  eaten  of  the  old  corn  of  the  land,  neither had  the  children  of  Israel  manna  any  more;"  as  if  to  show,  that they could  not  enjoy  at  the  same  time  both  the  heavenly  nourishment and  that  of  the  earth.

Love of  the  world,  said  St.  Augustine,  like  a  dangerous  fever,